Man charged after brawl with uncle at Pittsfield Road trailer park

LENOX -- A 34-year-old man faces two felony charges following a brawl early Tuesday morning, according to police.

Officers William deSantis and Paul Duval responded to a 3:12 a.m. call from the vicinity of Price Chopper for a report of an intoxicated man standing in the middle of Pittsfield Road (Routes 7 and 20). The man was flagging down cars near the Lipton Mart convenience store and seeking a ride to his home on Colebrook River Road in Tolland, a Hampden County town just east of Sandisfield.

Police found Louis Garassino Jr., who was "obviously intoxicated," the police report stated, with an apparent hand injury and blood-soaked clothing. The officers had planned to release him to a family member, but Garassino told them he had just been in a fight with his uncle, Leonard Dembkowski, 56, who lives at Berkshire Trailer Park, 405 Pittsfield Road.

Upon arriving at Dembkowski’s trailer, the officers discovered a smashed window and extensive damage to the interior furnishings, as well as a pool of blood on the kitchen floor.

"It was obvious that an extensive fight had taken place," said Police Chief Stephen O’Brien, citing the officers’ report.

Dembkowski was found lying on his bed with a severe head laceration and was extremely disoriented. But he told the officers that his nephew had attacked him and beaten him in a fit of rage following a drinking binge in the trailer, O’Brien stated.

Dembkowski was transported to Berkshire Medical Center by Lenox Ambulance, where he was admitted. He was listed in stable condition Tuesday afternoon, hospital officials said.

Garassino was arrested and charged with the two felony counts -- aggravated domestic assault and battery, as well as malicious destruction of property -- before he was transported to BMC for treatment of the hand injury. He was scheduled for arraignment on Tuesday in Southern Berkshire District Court in Great Barrington; information on the arraignment was not available on Tuesday evening.

To reach Clarence Fanto:cfanto@yahoo.com
or (413) 637-2551.
On Twitter: @BE_cfanto

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